Better week, up 4K (1.8%). Finally had time to put on a number of discretionary trades in addition to the automated. Will keep trying to push on with the size limits in effect and see how that plays out by year-end. I knew it, two more positive weeks and you've got a trend.
Neke, ignore the naysayers, ignore your original goal, ignore your gambling urges. Listen to the best you. You can do it. You have done it before. You will do it again. Best trading to you.
Weekly Update for week 37/50 ended 09/25/2010 Positive week, up 3.5K (1.6%). Lots of activities, mostly trying to dig myself out of a hole dug on Monday. Initiated a bunch of short positions (automated and discretionary) that suffered with the massive rally. Down about 9K for the day. Spent the rest of the week digging myself out and going to positive territory. Still trading on reduced size. Shut down a couple of automated strategies this week, after going nowhere for six months, and with a couple hundred trades between them. Some more are on review for possible shut-down, while I try to come up with a couple new ones. Code: Opening Balance: 223,188 Net gain for the week 3,492 ------------------------------------------------ Net Balance: 226,680 Number of Trades 30 Number of Profitable Trades 18 Since Inception of Thread 01/10/2010 - 09/25/2010 Opening Balance: 410,000 Net loss(Less Margin Interest) 183,320 (Down 44.7%) ------------------------------------------------ Net Balance 226,680 Number of Trades 1064 Number of Profitable Trades 566 BREAK-DOWN BY AUTOMATED/DISCRETIONARY Number P/L Best Gainer Worst Loser AUTO 16 -1,876.20 1,469.30 -2,415.80 DISCR 14 5,367.60 3,838.30 -3,535.30
I'm the kind of guy who likes to shut up and don't interfere with other ppl's business, this is actually my first reply to other ppl's post. But I couldnt help with this post. I have only been trading for less than 2 years so I might be wrong but the numbers don't lie. Just because you made a 50% something return with leverage last year does not mean you are able to make a 1000% return this year. After all, w/o the leverage you did not even beat the market and if you cant beat the market, what's the point of trading right? I started trading a small account of my own in 2009 and had a 100% return that year with no leverage, and that's the first time I traded and I knew so many people who did much better than me. Although I am an amateur but I know setting an unrealistic goal is definitely a bad start. If you want to argue that setting a high goal will push yourself to work hard, then change the title of this thread to "Taking $1 to 1 trillion by tomorrow". The way I see it, there are two kinds of people who replied your post. 1) People who offer honest and good advice and really want to help, this is the majority of the replies so far. 2) People who support your trading "strategy" and yell "GO GO NEKE YOU CAN MAKE IT ALL BACK", those people are only saying that because it is not their money being lost. They visit this thread to entertain themselves while you pay the bill. It is easier to read about someone who is being supportive and difficult to accept an advice that points out your mistakes. But as I said, numbers don't lie, you suffered a 50% loss so far, already blowed up your account. Not a big deal, you still have the chance to recover IF AND ONLY IF you stop trading right now and fix the existing problem with your "strategy" (btw, as many people pointed out already, there is no strategy, only gamble addiction). The fundamental problem that caused your loss is not bad risk mgmt, bad entry point, bad exit point, bad or no strategy, but all of them. The market is always right, don't blame market conditions. But I guess you won't listen. Numerous people offered more professional and helpful advice months ago and here you are, doing what you do. If you are a real-life friend of mine I would slap you in the face to wake you up. And you really need someone who can do that to you. Unfortunately, despite of the fact many good-hearted folks wanted to help you, they can not slap you.
Weekly Update for week 38/50 ended 10/02/2010 Good week, up 12K (5.5%). Opportunities were rare, but when they showed up, it was high quality. Great winning rate (8 of 9 trades) made it all the more impressive. Greatest gainer was scooping up SPY calls on Tues morning after the 10am sell off. Netted 5K on that one with 70 contracts. Still pressing on with the tame size levels Code: Opening Balance: 226,680 Net gain for the week 12,352 ------------------------------------------------ Net Balance: 239,032 Number of Trades 9 Number of Profitable Trades 8 Since Inception of Thread 01/10/2010 - 10/02/2010 Opening Balance: 410,000 Net loss(Less Margin Interest) 170,968 (Down 41.7%) ------------------------------------------------ Net Balance 239,032 Number of Trades 1073 Number of Profitable Trades 574 BREAK-DOWN BY AUTOMATED/DISCRETIONARY Number P/L Best Gainer Worst Loser AUTO 3 6,133.60 2,805.60 0.00 DISCR 6 6,210.10 4,934.70 -2,625.30 TOP/BOTTOM DISCRETIONARY TRADES TICKER ENTRY DATE/TIME EXIT DATE/TIME QTY PURCHASE AMT SOLD AMT GAIN/LOSS TYPE SPYOCT162010113.0CALL 2010-09-28-10-01-43 2010-09-28-11-36-01 7000 15400 20440 4934.7 SPY CALL
ar1zona, you have been trading for less than two years, but you already sound like you're the big stuff. Sorry, but Neke has been around the block a lot longer than you. He also managed to cope with drastically different market environments and made money in most of them. Have you? If you started in 2009 you most likely only experienced a raging bull with occasional hick ups. Not nearly the same. I believe that the last thing he needs is some newbie to tell him how to run things based on a short term track record. His total performance over the years so far exceeds yours by a great margin, so I'm not sure why you feel you should be so cocky. Trading is a personal business. You have to find a strategy that suits you and your own risk tolerance. Every strategy sooner or later will hit a rough patch. So will yours. Good luck y'all.
Hi Klaragorn First of all, if you read my original reply, I explicitly said I am a beginner and recognize many many others, including neke, is much more experienced. I never meant to sound big, instead, I pointed out I am a newbie from the start (you didnt find it out, I said it myself). In terms of techniques, I am in no position to tell anyone how to run things. But this thread had been going on for a while and numerous people have said pretty much the same thing that I did, but softer. And Neke himself had admitted there are certain problems that need to be worked on. You picked me because out of everyone how offered pretty much the same advice, I explicitly said I am a new trader. Oh and I sound harder than others, because the soft advices had been said already. I dont want to simply copy and paste previous replies. Second, I never said my short little track record is significant, recall from my original reply, I did write "many others did better than me". And I did say its a small account. Trading a small account is different than trading a big account. In fact, this is one of the things people had been suggesting in this post, many said neke traded this account the same way one would trade a small account. But this is technical stuff, and I am in no position to comment on this. Third, I never mentioned anything technical about neke's trading. I am just saying the numbers dont work out, I did say the account was blowed out, but then a hundred people said the same thing before me, I was repeating what half of the repliers are saying. So I am saying this again: i dunno neke's strategy, if there is a problem with it, i dunno how to fix. Instead, my reply was focusing on trading altitudes. What I was trying to say is if something very bad happened, it is the right thing to give yourself a stop and take a deep breath. You do not need to be an expert to tell something went wrong during the first half of the year right? While more experienced people replied with advice on how to fix the problem, I simply said there is a problem, which I believe is obvious. Anyways, if I accidently sound like big stuff, I never meant it. In fact, I never wanted to mean it that's why I wrote in advance I am a beginner so people don't take it the wrong way. But even experienced traders like neke (i dunno a lot about him, but i assume he is experienced based on what others said) can make mistakes occasionally. This is my logic: beginners like me only learnt the basic stuff (i.e. cut loss), so I remembered the basic stuff. As you become a better trader and learn tons of advanced analytical tools, people tend to forget the first thing they learnt. You know who tends to drown? The ones who know how to swim. I dont think there is any bans against beginners commenting on the psychological aspect of other people's tradings. Btw, I didnt sound completely negative either, I did write neke will get it all back, but after you are involved in a losing streak, its good to take a break before resume. So lets get the misunderstandings out, my original reply can be summarized as: if you lose a certain % of your capital, you don't need to be an expert to tell its time to take a break. If there is anything wrong with this statement, please point it out. I'm a beginner and I am here to learn, so if my logic is wrong, please let me know. Either way, enjoy your weekend and happy trading next month.